Haggai
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2003
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The Syrian Bride :star: :star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star: :star:
From the Washington DC International Film Festival. This movie from Israel focuses on a family of Druze, a religious group that doesn't quite fit in with anyone else in the Middle East, living in the Israeli-occupied territory of the Golan Heights, the mountainous region that borders Syria. The titular character, from a large family in a very close-knit small town/village, is engaged to a Syrian TV star, whom she's never actually met, via an arranged marriage. But once she crosses the militarized border into Syria, she and her family won't be able to visit each other anymore, since the two countries are still officially in a state of war.
The story unfolds in various directions with several interlocking subplots, via an ensemble cast. Lots of themes: tensions between traditionalist patriarchs and their offspring, male-female roles, living between different national identities without really belonging to either of them. It's not the most visually interesting movie, although the landscapes are quite pretty. The strength of this film is in the character situations and the very good cast, particularly the France-based Israeli-Arab actress Hiam Abbass, who essentially has the lead role as the bride's older sister. The director, Eran Riklis, was at the screening and said that they got a US distributor for a release starting this coming October. So, keep it in mind for later in the year, if you get a chance to see it.
From the Washington DC International Film Festival. This movie from Israel focuses on a family of Druze, a religious group that doesn't quite fit in with anyone else in the Middle East, living in the Israeli-occupied territory of the Golan Heights, the mountainous region that borders Syria. The titular character, from a large family in a very close-knit small town/village, is engaged to a Syrian TV star, whom she's never actually met, via an arranged marriage. But once she crosses the militarized border into Syria, she and her family won't be able to visit each other anymore, since the two countries are still officially in a state of war.
The story unfolds in various directions with several interlocking subplots, via an ensemble cast. Lots of themes: tensions between traditionalist patriarchs and their offspring, male-female roles, living between different national identities without really belonging to either of them. It's not the most visually interesting movie, although the landscapes are quite pretty. The strength of this film is in the character situations and the very good cast, particularly the France-based Israeli-Arab actress Hiam Abbass, who essentially has the lead role as the bride's older sister. The director, Eran Riklis, was at the screening and said that they got a US distributor for a release starting this coming October. So, keep it in mind for later in the year, if you get a chance to see it.